While substantial effort and attention continues toward the development of newer and more sustainable energy supplies, the conservation of energy by increased energy efficiency remains crucial to the world's energy future. According to an October 2010 report from the U.S. Department of Energy, heating and cooling account for 56% of the energy use in a typical U.S. home, making it the largest energy expense for most homes. Along with improvements in the physical plant associated with home heating and cooling (e.g., improved insulation, higher efficiency furnaces), substantial increases in energy efficiency can be achieved by better control and regulation of home heating and cooling equipment. By activating heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment for judiciously selected time intervals and carefully chosen operating levels, substantial energy can be saved while at the same time keeping the living space suitably comfortable for its occupants.
Historically, however, most known HVAC thermostatic control systems have tended to fall into one of two opposing categories, neither of which is believed be optimal in most practical home environments. In a first category are many simple, non-programmable home thermostats, each typically consisting of a single mechanical or electrical dial for setting a desired temperature and a single HEAT-FAN-OFF-AC switch. While being easy to use for even the most unsophisticated occupant, any energy-saving control activity, such as adjusting the nighttime temperature or turning off all heating/cooling just before departing the home, must be performed manually by the user. As such, substantial energy-saving opportunities are often missed for all but the most vigilant users. Moreover, more advanced energy-saving settings are not provided, such as the ability to specify a custom temperature swing, i.e., the difference between the desired set temperature and actual current temperature (such as 1 to 3 degrees) required to trigger turn-on of the heating/cooling unit.
In a second category, on the other hand, are many programmable thermostats, which have become more prevalent in recent years in view of Energy Star (US) and TCO (Europe) standards, and which have progressed considerably in the number of different settings for an HVAC system that can be individually manipulated. Unfortunately, however, users are often intimidated by a dizzying array of switches and controls laid out in various configurations on the face of the thermostat or behind a panel door on the thermostat, and seldom adjust the manufacturer defaults to optimize their own energy usage. Thus, even though the installed programmable thermostats in a large number of homes are technologically capable of operating the HVAC equipment with energy-saving profiles, it is often the case that only the one-size-fits-all manufacturer default profiles are ever implemented in a large number of homes. Indeed, in an unfortunately large number of cases, a home user may permanently operate the unit in a “temporary” or “hold” mode, manually manipulating the displayed set temperature as if the unit were a simple, non-programmable thermostat.
At a more general level, because of the fact that human beings must inevitably be involved, there is a tension that arises between (i) the amount of energy-saving sophistication that can be offered by an HVAC control system, and (ii) the extent to which that energy-saving sophistication can be put to practical, everyday use in a large number of homes. Similar issues arise in the context of multi-unit apartment buildings, hotels, retail stores, office buildings, industrial buildings, and more generally any living space or work space having one or more HVAC systems. Other issues arise as would be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading the present disclosure.
It is to be appreciated that although exemplary embodiments are presented herein for the particular context of HVAC system control, there are a wide variety of other resource usage contexts for which the embodiments are readily applicable including, but not limited to, water usage, air usage, the usage of other natural resources, and the usage of other (i.e., non-HVAC-related) forms of energy, as would be apparent to the skilled artisan in view of the present disclosure. Therefore, such application of the embodiments in such other resource usage contexts is not outside the scope of the present teachings.
Provided according to some embodiments is a thermostat user interface for a thermostat. The thermostat includes a frustum-shaped shell body having a circular cross-section and a sidewall extending between first and second ends, the second end being user-facing when the thermostat is wall-mounted; a circular rotatable ring being user rotatable for adjusting a setting of the thermostat; and a circular cover including a clear circular center portion surrounded by a painted outer portion. The clear circular center portion permits a corresponding circular portion of a non-circular dot-matrix color display element to be visible through the circular cover and the painted outer portion masks a remaining portion of the non-circular dot-matrix color display element so as to create a circular graphical user interface.
Provided according to some embodiments is a thermostat for controlling an HVAC system. The thermostat includes a frustum-shaped shell body, a circular rotatable ring, a circular cover, and a non-circular dot-matrix color display element. According to some embodiments, the frustum-shaped shell body includes a circular cross-section and a central axis generally perpendicular to a wall when the thermostat is wall-mounted and a sidewall that extends along a length of the central axis between first and second ends of the frustum-shaped shell body. The first end of the frustum-shaped shell body is wall-facing when the thermostat is wall-mounted, and the second end of the frustum-shaped shell body is user-facing when the thermostat is wall-mounted. The first end of the frustum-shaped shell body has a first diameter and the second end of the frustum-shaped shell body has a second, larger diameter. The sidewall includes inside and outside surfaces, where the inside surface defines an interior for housing components of the thermostat.
According to some embodiments, the circular rotatable ring is mounted proximate the second end of the frustum-shaped shell body, and the circular rotatable ring includes an axis of rotation generally perpendicular to the wall when the thermostat is wall-mounted. The circular rotatable ring is user rotatable about the axis of rotation, and such user rotation of the circular rotatable ring results in user input for adjusting a setting of the thermostat. According to some embodiments, the circular cover is mounted proximate the second end of the frustum-shaped shell body, and the circular cover includes a central axis generally perpendicular to the wall when the thermostat is wall-mounted. The circular cover also includes a clear circular center portion surrounded by a painted outer portion.
According to some embodiments, the non-circular dot-matrix color display element is mounted at a location between the second end of the frustum-shaped shell body and the circular cover. The clear circular center portion of the circular cover permits a corresponding circular portion of the non-circular dot-matrix color display element to be visible through the circular cover and the painted outer portion of the circular cover masks a remaining portion of the non-circular dot-matrix color display element so as to create a circular graphical user interface, the non-circular dot-matrix color display element and the circular cover do not rotate with the circular rotatable ring.
According to some embodiments the thermostat also includes a temperature sensor for use in determining an ambient air temperature, a plurality of HVAC wire connectors configured for receiving a corresponding plurality of HVAC control wires associated with the HVAC system, an audio-output device to output sound, and a processing system provided in operative communication with the plurality of HVAC wire connectors, the circular rotatable ring, the non-circular dot-matrix color display element, and the temperature sensor. According to some embodiments, the processing system configured to cause the non-circular dot-matrix color display element to display a visually prominent digital numerical value representative of a temperature value, wherein the digital numerical value representative of the temperature value is viewable through the clear circular center portion of the circular cover; cause the audio-output device to output synthesized audible ticks in correspondence with user rotation of the circular rotatable ring; determine a user-selected setpoint temperature value based on user rotation of the circular rotatable ring; send a control signal to the HVAC system via one or more of the plurality of HVAC wire connectors based at least in part on a comparison of a user-selected temperature value and the determined ambient air temperature; indicate a status of the thermostat by causing the non-circular dot-matrix color display element to display an animated sweep of radial marks arcuately arranged on the non-circular dot-matrix color display element to correspond with a perimeter of the clear circular center portion of the circular cover; and indicate an operation mode of the thermostat by causing the non-circular dot-matrix color display element to display orange-red colored elements when the thermostat is operating in a heating mode and bluish colored elements when the thermostat is operating in a cooling mode.
According to some embodiments a method is provided for a thermostat interacting with a user. The method is implemented in a thermostat that includes a frustum-shaped shell body having a circular cross-section and a central axis generally perpendicular to a wall when the thermostat is wall-mounted. The frustum-shaped shell body includes a sidewall that extends along a length of the central axis between first and second ends of the frustum-shaped shell body. The first end of the frustum-shaped shell body is wall-facing when the thermostat is wall-mounted, and the second end of the frustum-shaped shell body is user-facing when the thermostat is wall-mounted. The first end of the frustum-shaped shell body has a first diameter and the second end of the frustum-shaped shell body has a second, larger diameter. The sidewall includes inside and outside surfaces, where the inside surface defines an interior for housing components.
According to some embodiments, the method includes detecting user presence at the thermostat. Responsive to detecting user presence, the method includes activating a non-circular dot-matrix color display element mounted proximate the second end of the frustum-shaped shell body of the thermostat; informing the user of an operational mode of the thermostat by displaying on the non-circular dot-matrix color display orange-red elements when the thermostat is in a heating mode and bluish elements when the thermostat is in a cooling mode; indicating, via a circular graphical user interface, a temperature value by displaying a digital numerical value representative of the temperature value on a circular portion of the non-circular dot-matrix color display element that aligns with a clear circular center region of a circular cover. The circular cover includes a painted region that surrounds the clear circular center region and that masks a remaining portion of the non-circular dot-matrix color display element so as to create the circular graphical user interface.
According to some embodiments, the method includes enabling the user to select a setpoint temperature value by providing a circular rotatable ring mounted proximate the second end of a frustum-shaped shell body of the thermostat. The circular rotatable ring includes an axis of rotation generally perpendicular to the wall when the thermostat is wall-mounted, and the circular rotatable ring is configured to be user rotatable about the axis of rotation. User rotation of the circular rotatable ring results in user input for selecting the setpoint temperature value. The method further includes outputting synthesized audible ticks in correspondence with user rotation of the circular rotatable ring, and determining a user-selected setpoint temperature value by tracking user rotation of the circular rotatable ring.
According to some embodiments a method is provided for a thermostat interacting with a user. The method is includes displaying, on a non-circular electronic display, a plurality of radial marks arcuately arranged in alignment with a perimeter of a clear circular center region of a cover mounted near a user-facing end of a frustum-shaped shell body of the thermostat. The clear circular center region being surrounded by a painted outer region to mask portions of the non-circular electronic display. The method further includes displaying, on the non-circular electronic display, a numerical representation of a temperature value, where the numerical representation is displayed at a location that aligns with the clear circular center region of the circular cover mounted near the user-facing end of the frustum-shaped shell body of the thermostat. The method further includes displaying, on the non-circular electronic display, a color having a red and/or orange shade when the thermostat is calling for heating from the HVAC system, and, displaying on the non-circular electronic display, a color having a bluish shade when the thermostat is calling for cooling from the HVAC system.
Provided according to some embodiments is programmable device, such a thermostat, for controlling an HVAC system. The programmable device includes high-power consuming circuitry adapted and programmed to perform while in an active state a plurality of high power activities including interfacing with a user, the high-power consuming circuitry using substantially less power while in an inactive state or sleep state. The device also includes low-power consuming circuitry adapted and programmed to perform a plurality of low power activities, including for example causing the high-power circuitry to transition from the inactive to active states; polling sensors such as temperature and occupancy sensors; and switching on or off an HVAC functions. The device also includes power stealing circuitry adapted to harvest power from an HVAC triggering circuit for turning on and off an HVAC system function; and a power storage medium, such as a rechargeable battery, adapted to store power harvested by the power stealing circuitry for use by at least the high-power consuming circuitry such that the high-power consuming circuitry can temporarily operate in an active state while using energy at a greater rate than can be safely harvested by the power stealing circuitry without inadvertently switching the HVAC function. Examples of the high power activities includes wireless communication; driving display circuitry; displaying a graphical information to a user; and performing calculations relating to learning.
According to some embodiments, the high-power consuming circuitry includes a microprocessor and is located on a head unit, and the low-power consuming circuitry includes a microcontroller and is located on a backplate.